Religion and Refugees Project

Religion is critical to refugee resilience and their integration into the host society. Yet efforts to address the needs of refugees often neglect the function of religious faith in forming their lived experience and in shaping their narrative. Gaps in public understanding of the religion-refugee nexus can lead to failure to effectively address the religious needs of refugees. A more nuanced understanding of the complex roles of religion in the integration and lives of refugees is needed to ensure that the policies and programs directed at refugees can be as successful as possible.

Supported by the Templeton Religion Trust and implemented by MPI’s Refugee and Forced Displacement Initiative, the Religion and Refugees Project aims to address this gap by raising awareness and engaging decisionmakers to broaden their understanding of the importance of religion in, and its connection with, refugee experience. This project will examine the social consequences of religion through the lens of faith actors and how religion intersects with forced displacement as a means of refugee resilience and a facet of the diasporic experience. An Advisory Council of distinguished scholars, experts, and practitioners is providing guidance and insight during the life of the project. (Click here for the Advisory Council membership.)

A more nuanced understanding of the complex roles of religion in the integration and lives of refugees is needed to ensure that the policies and programs directed at refugees can be as successful as possible.

The project will explore core questions, such as: How do refugees process their displacement experience in the context of their faith and why does that matter for policy? In what ways can policymakers support the role of religion and faith-based communities to enhance refugee resilience and integration? To what extent is spirituality linked to refugee self-reliance and empowerment? At a time of shifting norms and retrenchment, can faith organizations help expand the protection space for refugees and the displaced?

These questions and conversations are particularly important and timely as governments around the world re-evaluate their obligations under the UN Refugee Convention. 

Understanding the role of religion in forced displacement can help validate the normative claims made by most religious traditions about assisting refugees. While there is so much uncertainty about the future of refugee protection in the current political environment around the globe, there is also an opportunity for dialogue from which decisionmakers can learn and understand the nuanced connections between religion and refugee issues to best inform the programming and policy responses.